Career

Sidelights

Dr. Phil—aka Phillip McGraw—burst onto the talk-show circuit
in the late 1990s as a regular guest on
The Oprah Winfrey Show.
He immediately captured a fan base with his blunt-fire style of therapy
and folksy Texas twang. McGraw proved so popular that in 2002, he launched
his own program,
The Dr. Phil Show,
which earned the highest ratings for a new talk show since Winfrey
started hers in 1986. Part showman, part psychologist, McGraw draws six
million daily viewers to his program,

Phil McGraw

where he urges people to "get real" about their lives. His
self-help books are also popular, topping the
New York Times'
best-seller list.

McGraw was born September 1, 1950, in Vinita, Oklahoma, to Joe and Jerry
McGraw. He and his three sisters spent most of their childhoods in rural
Oklahoma and Texas, where their father worked as an oilrig equipment
supplier. McGraw's father taught him early on the importance of
doing whatever it takes to make your dreams come true. "[Our] dad
said, 'Successful people will do what unsuccessful people
won't,'" McGraw's sister, Deana, recalled to
Marc Peyser of
Newsweek.
What Joe McGraw did was quit his job in the booming oil business and
uproot his family so he could pursue a doctorate in psychology. The family
was so poor that McGraw, his parents, and younger sisters had to move in
with his older, married sister.

McGraw took an early interest in football and it was through this sport
that he first became interested in psychology. Speaking to
Newsweek
's Peyser, he recalled a time in junior high when his team lost to
an unlikely bunch of ragamuffins from the Salvation Army. McGraw said his
team felt invincible, decked out in their black jerseys and matching
helmets. The Salvation Army team showed up to
play in rolled-up jeans and loafers. "They beat us like they were
clapping for a barn dance," McGraw recalled. "At that point
I really got interested in why some people, with all the advantages in the
world, don't do well, and those with no advantages can be absolute
champions."

As a six-foot-four-inch linebacker, McGraw earned a football scholarship
to the University of Tulsa, but got injured and quit. He transferred to
Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, earning a
bachelor's degree in psychology in 1975. From there, he headed to
the University of North Texas to earn a master's and a doctorate in
psychology with the aim of joining his father's private practice.
Over the course of this time, McGraw married twice. He married straight
out of high school and soon divorced. Around 1976, he married his current
wife, Robin.

McGraw spent ten years working side-by-side with his father, then decided
he did not have the patience for therapy. According to his book
Self Matters,
McGraw finally broke down and told his wife: "I hate my career. I
hate where we are living. I hate what I am doing.... I have one shot at
this, one shot, and I'm choking, I'm blowing it. I'm
now almost forty years old. I've wasted ten years of my life and I
can't get them back no matter what I do.... I'm tired of not
waking up excited in the morning. I'm tired of not being proud of
what I do or who I am."

Just like his father before him, McGraw quit his job and uprooted his wife
and two sons to pursue other opportunities. McGraw drew upon his expertise
in the field of human behavior to co-found Courtroom Sciences Inc. in 1989
with neighbor and attorney Gary Dobbs. The Irving, Texas-based company
helps defendants with court strategy and jury selection. It was through
this business that McGraw met Winfrey in the late 1990s when some West
Texas cattle ranchers sued her for defamation after she broadcast a show
on mad-cow disease. With the help of McGraw, Winfrey won her case.
McGraw's straight talk so impressed Winfrey that she invited him to
appear weekly on her show, beginning in 1998.

In 2002, McGraw left Winfrey's show to produce his own daily
self-help show, which has proved enormously popular. The format is simple.
Each show typically features a couple of troubled guests. McGraw
introduces each one to the audience through a short segment taped from the
guest's home, where the guest asks for help. The guest then appears
on the show to speak with McGraw. He is quick to identify the problem and
provide his guest with a solution, which generally involves trying to
alter the person's way of thinking. The show has covered such
issues as money, obesity, spoiled children, and disgruntled spouses. Since
starting his own show, McGraw moved his family from Texas to Beverly
Hills, California, where he bought a home for a reported $7.5 million. He
also sold his stake in Courtroom Sciences.

McGraw has also written several books, most of which top the best-seller
lists. One of his most popular was
The Ultimate Weight Solution: The Seven Keys to Weight Loss Freedom,
which garnered a reported $10 million advance. The topic is close to
McGraw's heart. "I've had obesity obliterate my
family—it took my father early, and I've got two nephews
over 500 pounds," he told
Time'
s Jeffrey Ressner. "I feel a sense of urgency to shake people up
about that."

McGraw himself has struggled with weight issues. He said he keeps the
pounds off through strenuous workouts and near-daily tennis matches.
McGraw believes success in weight loss involves healing your feelings.
"If you're overweight, you're using food for other
than nutritional purposes," he told
Good Housekeeping'
s Lily Bosch. "You're not feeding your body, you're
feeding your need."

McGraw has his detractors. Some psychologists think his
"tell-it-like-it-is" style is too harsh. Some marketing
experts question his staying power. "I'm not sure
[he'll be] around in five or ten years," marketing professor
Peter Sealey told
BusinessWeek.
"I have a sense he knows that and is milking it at every
step." However, McGraw's straightforward brand of psychology
has been popular in the United States. Six million people tune in daily
and his website gets 14 million page visits a month.

Selected writings

Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters,
Hyperion, 2000.